


Meddlesome

by tikkikwami



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast), The Adventure Zone: Amnesty (Podcast)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Trans Duck Newton, background danbrey, takes place directly after the end of the tree arc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-22 16:16:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22718767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tikkikwami/pseuds/tikkikwami
Summary: Duck was sitting at the kitchen table at Amnesty Lodge sipping on some late night coffee when Aubrey walked in with a shit-eating grin. He wondered absently how she could be so full of mischievous energy after the day they’d had - fighting the tree abomination.“So, Duckaroni,” she said, sitting across from him. Barclay took one look at her expression before leaving the room, leaving the pair alone.“Hey, Aubs,” he said tiredly.“So Ned just said the funniest thing,” she said, leaning forward in her seat. “You wanna know what?”With dread, Duck said flatly, “what.”“He said you got a big fat crush on the mothman,” she said triumphantly, crossing her arms.
Relationships: Indrid Cold/Duck Newton
Comments: 8
Kudos: 103





	Meddlesome

**Author's Note:**

> Haven't posted in a long time although I've had several fics just sitting around, ready to be posted, for months. Happy Valentines Day!!

Duck was sitting at the kitchen table at Amnesty Lodge sipping on some late night coffee when Aubrey walked in with a shit-eating grin. He wondered absently how she could be so full of mischievous energy after the day they’d had - fighting the tree abomination.

“So, Duckaroni,” she said, sitting across from him. Barclay took one look at her expression before leaving the room, leaving the pair alone. 

“Hey, Aubs,” he said tiredly. 

“So Ned just said the funniest thing,” she said, leaning forward in her seat. “You wanna know what?” 

With dread, Duck said flatly, “what.” 

“He said you got a big fat _crush_ on the mothman,” she said triumphantly, crossing her arms. 

Duck felt his face heat up as his shoulders lifted. “I’m-!” He snapped his mouth shut, trying to figure out a convincing lie. “It’s not, uh, strictly that way, fuck. Y’know, like- shit- when there’s a friendly- a friendly admiration- dammit. Uhhh...” 

Cackling, Aubrey threw her head back. “I _knew_ it, oh my god. At first I thought Ned was just fucking with me, but then I thought about it some more. Like, you were staring at him the _whole_ time we were with him yesterday and today.” 

“You’re a fucking menace,” Duck said, embarrassment fizzling in his chest. He took a long sip of coffee, closing his eyes and just ignoring his friend. 

“You never even really denied it,” she teased. 

“Okay, fuck!” Duck said, placing the mug on the table. “I got a- a fuckin’ crush, okay? It’s not, like, the biggest goddamn deal on the planet, yeesh.”

“How’re you gonna tell him?” Aubrey asked with a smirk. 

“Oh, _hell_ no,” Duck said firmly, lifting a hand in a ‘stop’ gesture. “I am not coming to you for romantic advice.” 

“Why not?” Aubrey lifted an eyebrow. “I started dating Dani within a week of meeting her. I’d say I’m the most qualified person in the Lodge to give you dating advice.” 

With a long-suffering sigh, Duck narrowed his eyes at her. “That may be true,” he conceded. “But this is my fucking situation to deal with, an’ I’m not really lookin’ for advice.”

“Okay, fine. But I’ve got something that might help.” Aubrey reached into her vest pocket and pulled out a familiar pair of red glasses. Duck carefully took them from her outreached hand. “Mothboy probably wants those back.” 

“Yeah,” Duck said. “He prob’ly does.”

Aubrey rolled her eyes and stood up. “I’m going to bed,” she told him. “But I’m here to talk if you’d like.” 

“Thanks,” Duck said, finishing his coffee. “I guess I’d better get goin’ too. Work tomorrow an’ all that.” 

Aubrey gave him a mock-salute before leaving.

*

Nervously, Duck shuffled his feet. It was the day before Candlenights, and he was standing outside the winnebago. Should he knock? Ugh, he should - standing outside for too long is weird. But he was shy, remembering his conversation with Aubrey the night before. How apparently his crush on Indrid was so obvious to the others. Did Indrid know?

Just then, the door opened a crack. “You can come in,” Indrid said, sounding amused. “I’m in my sylph form, though. Fair warning.” 

“Ain’t no need to warn me,” Duck said, quickly entering the camper and shutting the door. “Y’don’t scare me.” 

“Well, that makes one of you,” Indrid said good-naturedly. Duck had to crane his neck to look up at him, although he was so tall that he had to hunch over to fit inside the not-so-spacious camper. His shining red eyes dazzled Duck for a second, and he momentarily forgot what he came for.

“Oh, right. I got somethin’ for ya.” He reached into his pocket and took out the glasses, handing them to the large moth person. Indrid put them on and instantly became his human disguise once more. 

“Thanks,” Indrid said with a relieved sigh. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.” 

“We met yesterday,” Duck reminded him with a chuckle. He felt butterflies in his chest when he noticed Indrid blushing. 

“Yes, well,” the sylph said, sitting down at his small table. Duck sat on his couch a few feet away. “It seems important that I keep you close by, anyway. According to the futures, that is.” 

“Right,” Duck said with a crooked smile. “Jus’ ‘cause of the futures.” 

Indrid shook his head. “You’re misunderstanding me,” he said, sounding amused but exasperated. “You’re _important_. You’re a Chosen One. I believe it would be in everyone’s best interest to stay in Kepler so I can help out in any way I can.” 

“Wait, you know ‘bout me bein’ a Chosen?” 

“You’re not the only person to be Chosen, Duck,” Indrid said, tilting his head. “I’ve had visions of you talking to some blue hologram, like the other Chosen I knew.” 

“You knew another Chosen?” Duck asked, eyes wide. 

Indrid laughed. “Leo and I go way back,” he said. 

Duck rubbed his forehead with his hand. “Of course,” he said. “Him sorta bein’ a member of the Pine Guard an’ all that.” 

“Yep,” Indrid confirmed. “Sorry about the loss of your powers, by the way. That’s rough.” 

“And you’re _sure_ you’re not a mind reader?” Duck asked, laughing. “How the fuck did you know about that?” 

“I talked to Leo this morning when I picked up some more ‘nog,” he replied. “He told me he lost the perks of his Chosen status. I assumed you did as well.” 

“Yeah,” Duck sighed. “It’s not fuckin’ ideal.” 

Indrid stood up and poured himself some eggnog. “Would you like some?” 

“Sure,” Duck said. He admired the way Indrid’s hair brushed against his collarbones, wispy and elegant. Damn, he was handsome. 

He was careful not to be caught staring, but Indrid smirked anyway when he handed him the glass of eggnog. “Your friends are quite nosy,” he said, surprising Duck. 

“I’m not denyin’ it, but what did they do this time?” Duck asked, taking a sip. 

“In most futures, Aubrey’s going to come here and talk to me about you,” he said with a crooked smile. Duck could feel his face heating up. “I don’t use my powers to eavesdrop. I have no idea if she’s talked to you about me.” 

“She has,” Duck mumbled. “Last night. Gettin’ all up in my business, like, shit, she don’t need to know every single thing goin’ through my mind.” 

Indrid laughed. Duck noticed again that his nails were painted a pretty midnight blue, his slender fingers delicately wrapped around his glass of eggnog. He couldn’t help but smile hearing Indrid’s laugh. “She seems to be quite the matchmaker,” Indrid said, grinning. 

“Uh, she means well,” Duck pointed out. “Should I call an’ tell her not to come?” 

“That may be best,” Indrid said. He motioned toward the phone. “The Lodge’s number is on the sticky note beside the phone.” 

Duck nodded and dialed the familiar number. “Amnesty Lodge,” Barclay answered. There was noise in the background, and he sounded distracted. “How can I help you?”

“Hey, it’s Duck,” he said. “Can y’put Aubrey on the line?” 

After a moment, Aubrey answered. “Hey Duck,” she greeted him.

“Indrid says you’re gonna come over here an’ meddle,” he said, lifting an eyebrow. “Jus’ lettin’ you know y’don’t need to bother.” 

“Hah, so it worked without me even having to go through with it,” she laughed. “Just as planned.” 

“Shut the fuck up,” Duck said, grinning. 

“Bye,” Aubrey replied light-heartedly before hanging up.

Duck shrugged at Indrid. “She’s not comin’.” 

“That’s a relief,” Indrid said. He moved to sit on the couch, and Duck sat beside him. He noticed the way their legs brushed lightly as they sat, and his heart started pounding a bit faster. “Too much company is overwhelming for me. I haven’t had many people over recently, at least, until I came back to Kepler.” 

“I hope I’m not imposin’,” Duck said. “I wasn’t exactly invited.” 

“Nonsense. You’re always welcome here,” Indrid said, giving him a sly look. “I have a feeling we’re going to be seeing a lot more of one another.” 

Duck turned to face Indrid, resting his elbow on the back of the couch. “Yeah? How’s that?” 

Indrid smirked and patted Duck’s knee. “I can see the future. Obviously.”

“Obviously,” Duck echoed, feeling warm at the contact. “D’you wanna do somethin’, or whatever? You could come to my place. I got hot cocoa.” 

Indrid hesitated before nodding. “That sounds lovely,” he said, and his eager smile made Duck’s chest warm. “I know we’re going to end up watching movies. Mind if I bring some along?” 

“Nah, go ahead,” Duck said with a smile. He watched as Indrid reached over by the TV and stacked up several DVDs in his lap. “‘S a movie marathon in the works?” 

“If you don’t have anything else to do today,” Indrid said with a shrug. “My whole afternoon is free.” It was barely one o’clock, and if Indrid wanted them to spend the rest of the day together, that meant they would have _hours_ together. Just the two of them. Duck couldn’t hide his excited grin. 

“Yeah, sure.” Duck stood up and offered his hand to help Indrid up. He took it with a chuckle, giving Duck’s hand a friendly squeeze before letting go. Duck felt his cheeks warming up with a blush. He liked holding hands with Indrid, no matter how brief the moment was. 

“Okay, let’s get goin’.” 

*

When they arrived at Duck’s house, Indrid was shivering from the cold. He’d put on a long-sleeved shirt over his tank top, and a hoodie over that, but apparently it wasn’t enough. “Lemme get you a blanket,” Duck said as he unlocked the door. 

When they got inside, Duck’s cat Rocket leaned on Indrid’s legs, looking up at him with mournful eyes. She meowed at him plaintively. “Don’t listen to her, I fed her this mornin’ already,” Duck said, handing Indrid a blanket. 

He gratefully wrapped it around his shoulders, and the smile he gave Duck sent butterflies through his chest. “Thank you. Cold intolerance is just the worst.” 

“Intolerant of yourself?” Duck teased. Indrid snorted and shook his head, not dignifying that with a response. “‘M gonna get that hot cocoa started.” 

“Okay,” Indrid said, sounding curious. He must have looked at his visions. “You’re not going to make it the easy way?” 

“It’s worth the effort,” Duck told him as he walked into the kitchen. He pulled out milk and cream, sugar and vanilla, cocoa powder and chocolate, salt and cinnamon. It was a familiar routine, one he’d followed plenty of times growing up with his family and then continued to do once he grew up and moved out. Almost on autopilot, he started heating up the milk and cream in a large saucepan. He noticed Indrid watching over his shoulder with barely-disguised excitement. “You want me to teach you?” 

“Yes, please,” Indrid said. He did a little bounce on his heels that made Duck’s heart warm.

Duck stepped aside so Indrid could get closer to the pan. “Okay, so here’s the ingredients…” He rattled them off for Indrid. “I’m gettin’ the milk to a simmer so I can add the other stuff. The order don’t really matter, even if some people say it does.” 

“How do you know how much of each to add?” 

Duck shrugged. “Y’just make it an’ do a taste test, then adjust accordingly. Measurements aren’t necessary.” 

Indrid tilted his head. “I always thought cooking was so complex. I was never allowed to learn growing up, so whatever I’ve made as an adult has always turned out badly.” 

“‘S a shame,” Duck said. “Why couldn’t you learn it?” 

“It was not ‘befitting’ of my position as court seer, even as a child,” Indrid said with a sardonic smile. Then his expression softened. “I appreciate you teaching me now, though.” 

“You’re welcome.” Duck rubbed Indrid’s shoulder for a moment before his brain caught up with him and he started blushing, dropping his hand by his side. He busied himself with breaking up half a bar of chocolate with his hands into small pieces to add to the simmering liquid that would soon be hot cocoa. “Cookin’ really ain’t hard. Y’just have to be willin’ to make mistakes.” 

“Ugh,” Indrid said with a good-natured smile. “The horror.” 

Duck laughed. “Lotsa people refuse to cook ‘cause they’re scared they’ll mess up real bad and get embarrassed about it. But if you’re not scared of makin’ those mistakes, you can end up makin’ a lot of good stuff along the way.”

Indrid hummed, looking thoughtful. “Would you mind teaching me more sometime?” 

“Yeah, ‘course I will,” Duck said, feeling his heartbeat quicken at the thought of Indrid wanting to spend more time with him. “It’ll be fun.” 

“And I’ll end up eating stuff that isn’t frozen for once,” Indrid said with a chuckle. “I’ve always wanted to learn how to cook, but never knew how to start.” 

“Well, I ain’t exactly Barclay, but I can teach you what I do know,” Duck told him. Indrid’s smile made his heart melt a little. He turned back to the sauce pan and started adding the other ingredients, stirring them together slowly. “If you grab a couple of clean spoons - it’s that drawer over there - we can do taste tests.” 

Indrid hesitantly dipped a spoon into the hot cocoa and blew on it gently. “How will I know what it needs?” 

“I’ll know,” Duck said, doing the same. He carefully sipped at the hot liquid. “I like it a little thicker than this, so I might add some cream.” 

“Could be sweeter,” Indrid said thoughtfully. 

Duck grinned. “I knew you’d say that. We can add sugar an’ a little bit more of the chocolate bar.” So he added the extra amounts of the ingredients and stirred. “If you’ll rinse off the spoons in the sink for a moment, we can taste test again.” Indrid did so and handed him his spoon again. With the second taste test, Duck nodded. “This’s perfect.” 

“It’s so good,” Indrid sighed happily. 

Duck reached above and took out two mugs from the cabinet. He took a ladle from the drawer by his hip and gave them both a generous portion of the hot cocoa. Then he took it off the heat and set it on a separate burner, turning off the stove. “Now let’s watch a movie.” 

*

Duck tried to focus on the movie, and he got into it for the most part, but he kept getting distracted by Indrid. He could feel his warmth beside him, even if they weren’t touching. And they were sharing a blanket, in addition to the one wrapped around Indrid’s shoulders. He kept thinking about wrapping his arm around Indrid’s shoulders, pulling the seer closer. But he didn’t. 

“That movie always leaves me feeling happy,” Indrid said, stretching as the credits rolled. He glanced at Duck with a crooked smile. “If you wanted to cuddle, you could just ask.” 

“Fuckin’ mind reader,” Duck mumbled, feeling his cheeks grow hot. He must have put his arm around Indrid in enough futures for Indrid to see that he was considering it.

Indrid laughed quietly and bumped his shoulder against Duck’s. He picked up his empty mug and went into the kitchen, setting it in the sink. “Not a mind reader,” he called through the doorway. 

“May as well be,” Duck replied, standing up. He walked to the kitchen to wash out the mugs and put away the extra hot cocoa in a plastic food storage container. 

“Want any help?” Indrid asked, leaning against the counter. 

“Nah. Chores are calming.” Duck set the clean mugs on the drying rack before drying his hands and opening the cabinets to hunt down the right tupperware and its lid. “You wanna pick out the next movie?” 

“Sure,” Indrid said. He had a grin that Duck thought looked suspiciously sneaky. He walked into the living room with a little bounce in his step. Cute. Duck sighed as he put away the hot cocoa. He was _fucked_. He liked Indrid too much already. 

When he returned to the living room, the movie was already set up to play, and Indrid was sitting on the couch, surrounded by blankets again. When Duck sat down, Indrid nestled into his side, laying his head on Duck’s shoulder. Duck hesitantly wrapped his arm around Indrid’s shoulders, feeling his face heat up with a blush. “Comfy?” Indrid asked. Duck couldn’t see his face, but could hear his smirk in his voice. 

“Yeah,” Duck said softly, hoping Indrid didn’t notice the fluttering of his heart. He reached for the remote and pressed play on the movie. 

And after about thirty minutes, he was so bored. Call him a romantic at heart, but he’d take a rom-com over an action movie any day. Or any other kind of movie. But he especially found action movies boring. 

He distracted himself by petting Indrid’s hair. The sylph sighed happily and leaned into the contact, apparently enjoying the gentle touches. Duck could feel his heart speed up at how cute Indrid was being and how _close_ they were at that moment. 

Then Indrid sat up some, lifting his head from Duck’s shoulder. He looked at him with unguarded fondness. “I’ve had a really nice time hanging out with you today,” he said quietly. 

Duck paused the TV, knowing neither of them were paying attention to the movie anymore. “Me, too,” he replied with a little smile. He saw Indrid’s eyes flick to his lips and back to his eyes, and he felt his heart skip a beat. Was Indrid going to kiss him?

Then Indrid smirked. “Expecting something?” 

“You’re teasing me,” Duck sighed good-naturedly. He put his hand on Indrid’s cheek, and the seer leaned into the contact happily. 

“Yeah, I am,” Indrid responded, grinning. He looked so cute. Duck wanted to kiss him.

Then they spoke at the same time. “Can I kiss you?” Indrid’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “Yes, please.” 

Duck laughed quietly as he leaned in and pressed his lips against Indrid’s. They were soft, he noticed as a happy thrill went through him. After the briefest of moments Duck leaned back to gauge Indrid’s reaction. 

The sylph looked overjoyed. 

He instantly leaned in for another kiss, then another. He was so happy that he couldn’t even think. 

Duck pulled away from the kiss for a breather. He reached forward and tenderly pushed a lock of hair behind Indrid’s ear. “How’re you doin’?” 

“I’m happy, but maybe a little overwhelmed,” Indrid admitted, smiling. Duck ran his thumb over his cheekbone, and Indrid leaned into the contact with a soft sigh. “Sorry I picked a boring movie.” 

“No, it’s okay,” Duck replied. “It ain’t that bad.” 

Indrid giggled. “It was one of the choices that led to us kissing.” 

“Sneaky,” Duck said, grinning.

Indrid nodded and leaned in for another peck on the lips. “I really like you,” he said quietly, sounding a bit shy. “I’d like to spend more time with you, if you wouldn’t mind.” 

“I wouldn’t mind at all,” Duck said, smiling. “I like you, too.” 

“Now let’s watch a movie we’ll actually enjoy,” Indrid said, standing up. He took the DVD out of the player and put it back in its case. After a moment to look at the futures, he picked a movie he knew Duck would like and set it up to play. Then he sat back down on the couch next to Duck, sidling up to him. 

Duck pressed play on the remote and Indrid laid his head on Duck’s shoulder. He felt more content than he had in a long while.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments bring me joy!!


End file.
